WASHINGTON (April 27, 1999 4:26 p.m. EDT http://www.nandotimes.com) -
A researcher who developed a test that helped identify causes and
effects of DNA damage and a surgeon who performed the first
successful human heart transplant in the United States were among
this year's recipients of government awards recognizing pioneers in
science and technology.

"Your success in illuminating the hows and whys of our world and
raising the quality of human existence have helped make the time in
which we live perhaps the most exciting in human history," President
Clinton told the honorees Tuesday. "I am humbled by your
achievements."

Clinton presented the National Medals of Science and the National
Medals of Technology in an East Room ceremony at the White House.

The science medal, established by Congress in 1959 to recognize
contributions to the physical, biological, mathematical and
engineering sciences, is the nation's highest scientific honor.
Behavioral sciences were included in 1962.

The nine science medal recipients - chosen by the National Science
Foundation - included Bruce N. Ames, professor of biochemistry and
molecular biology and director of the National Institute of
Environmental Health Sciences at the University of California,
Berkeley. Ames' research on environmental and natural mutagens led to
greater understanding of certain kinds of DNA damage and resulted in
public policy recommendations on diet and cancer risks.

The other recipients were:

-Don L. Anderson, professor of geophysics at the California Institute
of Technology Seismological Laboratory in Pasadena.

-John W. Cahn, a fellow at the National Institute of Standards and
Technology in Gaithersburg, Md.

-Cathleen S. Morawetz, professor emerita at the Courant Institute of
Mathematical Sciences of New York University.

-Janet D. Rowley, a cancer researcher at the University of Chicago.

-Eli Ruckenstein, professor of chemical engineering at the State
University of New York in Buffalo.

-George M. Whitesides, professor of chemistry at Harvard University.

-William Julius Wilson of the John F. Kennedy School of Government at
Harvard University.

The technology medal, first presented in 1985, recognizes
breakthroughs in the creation of new or significantly improved
products, processes or services.

The recipients, including Dr. Denton A. Cooley, the founder,
president and surgeon-in-chief of the Texas Heart Institute in
Houston, Texas, were chosen by an independent committee that answers
to the Commerce secretary.